Major League Baseball’s draft is coming up next month, and the last thing that any team wants to do is whiff on its pick. The bar is set pretty high for that, though. Here is a look at the biggest high-pick flops by position in draft history.

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1

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C: Steve Chilcott, Mets (No. 1, 1966)

The No. 1 pick in the first draft, in 1965, was Rick Monday, who enjoyed a very productive career. So Chilcott became the first No. 1 to be a bust, as the catcher out of Antelope Valley High School in California never made it to the majors, playing only 22 games at Triple-A. Worse for the Mets, Reggie Jackson was the No. 2 pick, although if the Mets were set on taking a catcher, it was going to be a tough draft, with only Johnny Oates, Skip Jutze, and Cliff Johnson making it to the majors among picks in the first 10 rounds.

2

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1B: Dave McCarty, Twins (No. 3, 1991)

With as many as 31 home runs in a season in the minor leagues, McCarty could hit — just not at the major league level, where the former Stanford star had a .676 OPS in 632 career games. He wound up pitching three games for the Red Sox in 2004, striking out four hitters in 3.2 innings, but that was his last professional season. The next first baseman taken after McCarty in 1991 was Cliff Floyd, who went to the Expos at No. 14, so, whoops.

3

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2B: Ty Griffin, Cubs (No. 9, 1988)

One of only three second basemen ever picked in the top 10, along with Rickie Weeks and Todd Walker, Griffin is the only one who never made it to the majors, after the Cubs picked him out of Georgia Tech, one spot before the White Sox took Robin Ventura. Griffin never advanced past Double-A, and the only second basemen picked as such in 1991 to make the majors were Jeff Frye, John Patterson, and Doug Saunders.

4

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SS: Matt Bush, Padres (No. 1, 2004)

The Padres passed on Justin Verlander because of Bush’s signability out of Mission Bay High School in San Diego, and lived to regret it as a mix of off-field issues and a career OPS of .569 in the minor leagues meant that he never made it past Double-A. Bush tried to reinvent himself as a pitcher in the Rays organization, and made it as far as Double-A there in 2011. The next shortstop picked in 2004 was Chris Nelson, a bust for the Rockies at No. 9, but then Stephen Drew went to the Diamondbacks at No. 15.

5

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3B: Josh Vitters, Cubs (No. 3, 2007)

Vitters is 24 now, as he was picked out of Cypress HS in California, so it’s not all over for him just yet, but as of this writing, he is hitting .216/.281/.396 in Triple-A. While Vitters has played in the majors, he batted .121/.193/.202 in 36 games for the Cubs in 2012 and hasn’t been back, even as bad as the Cubs have been. Mike Olt, who is one year older, is manning the position now in Chicago, with Kris Bryant on the way. Matt Wieters went two picks after Vitters, while the next third baseman taken was another California high schooler, Matt Dominguez, who hit 21 homers last year for the Astros and has seven already this year.

6

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OF: Al Chambers, Mariners (No. 1, 1979)

Chambers got to the Majors for 57 games with the Mariners from 1983-85, but the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, high school product could not stick because he could not hit, posting a .208/.326/292 line despite a measure of success in Triple-A, where he hit .303/.399/.499 over parts of five seasons. Andy Van Slyke, who went to the Cardinals at No. 6, did wind up making it to Seattle as a current coach, while the Mariners eventually got the No. 1 overall pick right when they got Ken Griffey Jr. in 1987.

7

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OF: Mark Merchant, Pirates (No. 2, 1987)

The Pirates actually had a worse record than the Mariners in 1986, but in those days, the American League and National League alternated years with the No. 1 pick, so the Pirates could only watch as Seattle got Donora, Pennsylvania-born Ken Griffey Jr. Pittsburgh went for Merchant out of Oviedo HS in Florida, and while he stuck around the minors through 1998, making it as high as Triple-A, he never played in the majors. Merchant was traded to Seattle in 1989 as part of the deal that brought Rey Quinones to Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, the Pirates had to wonder what might have been in a first round that also included Kevin Appier, Craig Biggio, Delino DeShields, Travis Fryman, and Jack McDowell, each of whom became stars in the 1990s.

8

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OF: Shawn Abner, Mets (No. 1, 1984)

When the Mets draft No. 1, it seems to work out great for the A’s, who got Reggie Jackson at No. 2 in 1966, and Mark McGwire at No. 10 in 1984. Abner wound up a journeyman, and part of the trade that brought Kevin McReynolds to New York, but the Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, high school product wound up with a career WAR of minus-1.3, while No. 2 pick Bill Swift became a successful pitcher for the Mariners and other clubs. The best outfielder of the 1984 draft, Cardinals sixth-round pick Lance Johnson, did wind up on the Mets later in his career, and still holds the team’s single-season record holder with 227 hits and 21 triples in 1996.

9

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LHP: Brien Taylor, Yankees (No. 1, 1991)

The ultimate can’t-miss prospect who missed, Taylor busted his shoulder in a fight and ever made it beyond Double-A, although even at that level, Taylor was far from can’t-miss, with 102 walks in 163 innings in 1993. Meanwhile, the Yankees missed out on a prospect right under their noses, a high schooler from just across the Harlem River named Manny Ramirez, who went to the Indians at No. 13. As it turned out, the round to draft pitchers in 1991 was the eighth, although not Grant Sullivan, the righty the Yankees picked from Ole Miss who never made the majors. Jason Schmidt, Brad Radke, Derek Lowe, and Steve Trachsel all were 1991 eighth-rounders.

10

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RHP: Bryan Bullington, Pirates (No. 1, 2002)

Bullington made it to the major leagues, so he fared better than two of the other four pitchers selected in the top five in 2002 – Chris Gruler and Clint Everts – while Adam Loewen also did not make much of an impact in the bigs. The No. 6 pick, though, was Zack Greinke. It’s easy to forgive draft flubs sometimes because hindsight is 20-20, but the Pirates picked Bullington for the wrong reasons: signability and the fact that, coming out of Ball state, he might be able to make it to the majors faster. Bullington made his major league debut in 2005, but did not pitch his second game for Pittsburgh until 2007.

11

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RP: Matt Anderson, Tigers (No. 1, 1997)

The next four picks after Anderson were J.D. Drew, Troy Glaus, Jason Grilli, and Vernon Wells, so it’s easy to suggest what Detroit should have done instead of picking Anderson, a classic hard thrower with no idea where the ball was going – he had 224 strikeouts and 157 walks in 256.2 career innings. He’s also the owner of the greatest story of a career-altering injury that simply was not true: the legend was that Anderson tore up his shoulder in an octopus-throwing contest to support the Detroit Red Wings, but he actually got hurt warming up in the bullpen later that night. At least the Red Wings went on to win the Stanley Cup.